Digital marketing and agrinfluencers at the heart of EIMA 2022

The techniques and languages of digital communication, those typical of social networks, are conquering an increasingly important space also in the agricultural and agro-mechanical sector. At EIMA International experts and content creators discussed the topic

The 45^th edition of EIMA International opened an important window on the new frontiers of digital marketing, which is also becoming established in the world of agriculture and the agricultural machinery sector. Social networks are increasingly becoming a tool for connecting machinery and equipment manufacturers, distributors, and agricultural companies.

"We started ten years ago with social media and some digital platforms involving collaboration with dealers. Despite the fact that digital marketing is still little used in our sector, compared to the automotive sector, the results,"confirmed Lorenzo Selvatici, head of Selvatici Srl, attending the meeting Digital marketing for manufacturers and distributors“ are visible. Faced with increasingly connected farmers, who have long been accustomed to using digital tools to control their crops, digital marketing is also opening up new spaces among tractor manufacturers. The pandemic has accelerated e-commerce and even in Italy the digital universe has expanded its boundaries, as Roberto Bignami, business consultant at 1To1 Direct, explains. "Today, with a population of almost 60 million, we have 77 million mobile phones and 70 million emails available. In addition," Bignami noted, "the main social media continue to increase their subscribers. That is why it is so important today to have a modern corporate website, a constantly updated social activity, and clean email lists". The starting point is a good website, which must possess certain characteristics. For example, it must guarantee maximum performance in terms of speed. "But it must also ensure the best user experience and be optimised for search engines," explained Ivan Fila, administrator of the communication and marketing agency Smilenet. But the real spearhead of digital marketing is undoubtedly social networking.

"If I were an agricultural machinery company, I would start considering an investment not only in traditional media but also in influencers and the channels that host them, Tik Tok above all," emphasised Matteo Pogliani, Open-Box digital manager and founder of the National Influencer Marketing Observatory, closing the meeting at EIMA International dedicated to 'Agrinfluencers and agromechanical communication: European framework, expectations and prospects'. This initiative included the presentation of the results of the Agrimachinery Creators Report 2022 and brought the most important national and European agrinfluencers to Bologna. The survey provides a snapshot of a sector of thematic communication in considerable expansion and now able to intercept the interest of the main brands of agricultural mechanisation. Four types of creators were identified by the report: farmers/breeders, characterised by spontaneity and high credibility because they are "able to tell the story of what they do"; experts, people historically in the sector characterised by high technical skills, not farmers; photographers/videomakers, who push visual content and the aesthetics of the message; enthusiasts, driven by emotion, passion, often "reposters" of other people's content. "The phenomenon of agrinfluencers," Pogliani added, "is now established throughout Europe, but some key countries can be identified. First of all Germany, where over 40% of creators are concentrated, the United Kingdom (14.4%), and then the Netherlands and Italy (7.2%). 66% of creators are active on at least two channels and 46.9% even on three. A truly remarkable characteristic". The channels taken into consideration are Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube, Facebook. Each one with peculiar characteristics. "Instagram," Pogliani pointed out, "is the reference channel for creators and influencers. Almost 80% of the total presence is concentrated on it.

The European circulation is 4.8 million followers for the sector, and the average followers per creator is 52 thousand. Tik Tok is the real big surprise, with the strongest growth performance. It has 4.1 million followers in total, and by now it is not uncommon for agribusiness content to reach 250 thousand views". According to Pogliani, Youtube is the most complex tool for a new creator, and works more like a search engine than a real social network. However, it has the advantage of allowing a longer average life for published content, with 5 million subscribers and a value of 58,500 on the average interaction. "Facebook," concluded Pogliani, "is not an obsolete channel, as some claim, but it is certainly not much frequented by agribusiness creators. Those who have a position maintain it, hardly any new ones are created".